Football League World
·31 de outubro de 2024
Football League World
·31 de outubro de 2024
New signing Isaac Schmidt has struggled to make an impact at Elland Road, with boss Daniel Farke giving him few opportunities to impress.
Former Swiss youth international Isaac Schmidt has found first-team opportunities hard to come by at Leeds United since his arrival from St. Gallen in the latter stages of the summer transfer window.
The versatile 24-year-old, who is predominantly a full-back, but is comfortable operating in multiple roles, has been reduced to just three very late cameo appearances off the bench since his £2.5m transfer two months ago.
Having signed a four-year deal, Schmidt is perhaps seen as a more long-term project, and manager Daniel Farke could just be easing him into his new surroundings.
But the Lausanne-born man isn't an inexperienced youngster requiring that kind of approach, which points to the Leeds boss not trusting his new man to do what is required of him at this point, even in the absence of others.
After playing a starring role in helping his former club qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Conference League before making the switch, Schmidt will be frustrated at being overlooked at Elland Road in the early stages of his Whites career.
Schmidt's annoyance will have grown further after he missed out on selection in the recent Championship match at Bristol City, despite regular left-back Junior Firpo missing out through suspension.
Firpo began the season as Farke's preferred choice in the full-back role, but having picked up five bookings during Leeds' opening 11 Championship matches, the Dominican Republic international was forced to sit out the Ashton Gate clash as he served a one-match ban.
Schmidt would have hoped that this was an opportunity to break into what had previously been an unchanged United back four, but was left disappointed as Sam Byram was chosen to fill in for Firpo on the left-hand side, with the Swiss forced to watch on as an unused substitute once more - Byram played well and is a solid option Farke trusts, but it begs the question of what the current pecking order is at Leeds that a free agent is starting ahead of a player the club spent a seven-figure fee on.
The former St. Gallen man has more often than not been a spectator since arriving in West Yorkshire, and given the latest snub, will wonder what he has to do for Farke to give him a chance.
Fellow full back Jayden Bogle, who has been an important figure in Farke's side since his summer arrival from Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United, picked up his fifth booking of the season himself at Bristol City, meaning he too will now serve a one-match ban in the weekend's clash with Plymouth Argyle.
Schmidt is comfortable playing on the right-hand side of the defence, and would be more than capable of filling in for Bogle for the home match against Wayne Rooney's side.
There's every chance, however, that Farke will move Byram, who performed well in Bristol, into his more natural right-back role, with the returning Firpo taking over on the left once more.
Should this happen, it will likely further infuriate Schmidt, who has been patiently waiting for a chance to add to his combined 10 minutes in a Leeds shirt thus far.
While United have started the season well, and keeping a consistent line-up is somewhat understandable in the circumstances, should nothing change, the athletic all-rounder will surely soon be knocking on his manager's door asking for an explanation for being continually rebuffed.
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